[2025 Guide] How to Recover Deleted Contacts on iPhone with/without Backup

Yesterday I accidentally deleted all of my contacts through the Settings app on my phone. Not sure exactly how. I was trying to delete an old unused email that kept being suggested in autofill. I was trying to see if it was connected to my contact page. – from Reddit

Contacts are some of the most important files you have on your iPhone, especially if you're accustomed to making calls, sending emails, or texting friends/family with them. So it must be the terrible thing if you mistakenly delete one or more contacts. And the worse thing is that, you don't even have a backup.

How to recover deleted contacts from iPhone without backup?

How to Recover Deleted Contacts iPhone

Method 1. How to Recover Deleted Contacts from iPhone without Backup

If you accidently deleted some useful iPhone contacts and want to directly recover them from iOS device, you should pay more attention to this part. We will show you how to recover deleted contacts iPhone without iTunes/iCloud backup. Here we sincerely recommend the professional iPhone Contact Recovery, FoneLab iPhone Data Recovery, to help you restore iPhone contacts. is the professional iOS data recovering software which enables you to recover various iPhone files and make data backup from iPhone.

iPhone Data Recovery

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FoneLab - iPhone Data Recovery

  • Scan and recover deleted contacts from iPhone directly without iTunes/iCloud backup.
  • Restore contacts, messages, WhatsApp, photos, and more data types.
  • Support the preview feature to view and select certain deleted contacts before recovery.
  • Compatible with all iPhone and iPad versions, including the latest iPhone 17.
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Step 1.
Download iPhone Contact Recovery

Download, install and run this powerful iPhone contacts recovery tool on your computer and connect your iPhone to it with USB cable.

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Three recovery modes are provided for you to get your iPhone contacts back. Here you should choose "Recover from iOS Device" and then click "Start Scan" to scan all types of data on your iphone.

iPhone Contact Recovery
Step 2.
Scan deleted iPhone contacts

After scanning, all iPhone files will be listed in categories on the left control. Click "Contacts" and then check the detailed information of all deleted/existent contacts on the right window.

How to Recover Deleted Contacts on iPhone
Step 3.
Recover deleted contacts from iPhone

When you select all deleted iPhone contacts you want to retrieve, click on "Recover" button to recover deleted contacts iPhone to your computer.

Within just a few seconds, the deleted iPhone contacts will be restored to your computer. The recovered contacts will be saved as CSV, HTML or VCF file according to your need. As you can see, other iOS data like photos, videos, audios, call logs, messages, etc. can also be restored by this all-featured iOS data recovery tool. You can download it and have a free trial.

Method 2. How to Retrieve Deleted iPhone Contacts from iTunes

If you ever backed up iPhone data to iTunes and the backup contained the deleted contacts you need, thing will become much more easier. Learn how to recover deleted iPhone contacts from iTunes backup.

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Step 1.
Run deleted iPhone contacts recovering software and choose "Recover from iTunes Backup File".
How to recover deleted contacts iPhone from iTunes
Step 2.
Select the iTunes backup which has your deleted iPhone contacts and then click "Start Scan" to start the scanning process.
Step 3.
Click "Contacts" from the left control panel and check the details of each contact on the right preview window. All deleted/existent contacts will be displayed in the interface, you can handily find the contacts you want to restore.
Choose iTunes backup file
Step 4.
Choose the ones which you want to recover back to your iPhone, and then click "Recover" to recover deleted contacts on iPhone.

Method 3. How to Restore Deleted iPhone Contacts iPhone from iCloud Backup

iCloud can automatically back up the important iOS data from time to time. If you just have the iCloud backup file which carries the deleted contacts, you can also restore deleted iPhone contacts from iCloud backup. Check how to recover deleted contacts iPhone below:

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Step 1.
Launch iPhone Contact Recovery and choose "Recover from iCloud Backup File".
How to Recover Deleted Contacts iPhone
Step 2.
This program offers you 2 ways to scan iPhone backup from iCloud backup or detailed data types from Photos, Contacts, Notes&Attachments, Calendar and Reminders.

For recovering deleted contacts from iCloud, just tick the box of the data type of "Contacts" to scan the files.

Fonelab Select Data Type from iCloud for Scanning

Then it will start scanning contacts on iCloud.

The other option is to scan from "iCloud Backup".

Fonelab Scan iCloud Backup

After clicking the Start button, you will see all backup files listed there. Just scan and select a backup file that includes the deleted contacts you want to recover, and then click "Download" behind it.

Download iCloud backup files to computer
Step 3.
Scan deleted contacts from iCloud.

After downloading data online from iCloud backup files, click the data type, e.g. "Contacts". Then you can scan and read all your iCloud text messages, including deleted text messages.

Check your iCloud Contacts
Step 4.
View and recover deleted contacts from iCloud.

When the scannign process is done, just click "Contacts" to view the contacts details. Choose the deleted iPhone contacts you want to recover and then click "Recover" to get them restored.

How to Recover Deleted iPhone Contacts from iCloud

You can learn how to use iPhone Contact Recovery from the video below:

Recover Deleted iPhone Data play-button

Method 4. How to Recover Deleted iPhone Contacts from iCloud.com

Besides the methods above, you can rely on the iCloud site to try recovering your deleted contacts from iPhone. Just follow the next steps to know how to find deleted contacts on iPhone.

Step 1.
Navigate to www.icloud.com on your web browser and log into your iCloud account.
Step 2.
When you enter your Apple account, click on the Contacts icon to open the iCloud Contacts.
Access Deleted Contacts on iPhone
Step 3.
You are allowed to check all of your contacts and manage them by creating or editing groups/contact. In addition, you can export contacts (VCard) to your PC/Mac. If you can find the deleted iPhone contacts in this site, you can recover them with ease.
Step 4.
Click the clog icon at the bottom left, and then select "Export vCard..." from the drop-down list to get your deleted contacts back to iPhone.
How to Recover Deleted Contacts on iPhone from iCloud

Method 5. How to Restore Removed Contacts from Google Contacts Backup

This method doesn't just recover your contacts; it keeps them automatically synced across both Google and your iPhone.

Step 1.
Launch your iPhone and tap the Settings app.
Step 2.
Scroll down and find Contacts, tap it, and go to Contacts Accounts. If you already have your Google account listed, skip to Step 4.
Step 3.
Tap Add Account, and then select Google.
Step 4.
Insert your Google email address and password, with complete any two-factor authentication prompts.
Step 5.
Once signed in, you'll see a list of services (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Notes). Enable the switch next to Contacts to the ON position.
Step 6.
Back to your iPhone's Contacts app. Your Google contacts should now begin appearing with any existing contacts you have.
Recover Contacts By Google

Method 6. How to Recover Lost iPhone Contacts from Email Accounts

This method is similar to Method 5. Many people don't realize their contacts are automatically backed up to their email accounts (like Google, Exchange, or Outlook) and can be easily restored.

Step 1.
Follow the steps of Method 5 to enter the Contacts Accounts of Settings.
Step 2.
Review the list of accounts already added to your iPhone and select the specific email account, like Gmail or Outlook.
Step 3.
Choose Keep on My iPhone to avoid accidentally losing local contacts while importing the new ones.
Step 4.
Your missing contacts should begin to appear immediately in the Contacts app.

Tips: How to Keep Your iPhone Contacts Safe

• You should decide whether you want your contacts stored primarily with Apple (iCloud) or Google (Gmail), and stick to that choice. This prevents you from having multiple, incomplete lists.

• If you have multiple email accounts (like a work account and a personal account), make sure your iPhone is set to sync contacts from all of them. If you delete an account from your phone, it will automatically ask if you want to keep the associated contacts on your device.

• When you sync contacts from multiple sources (iCloud, Gmail, Outlook), you often end up with duplicates, which makes cleanup harder. iOS has a great feature to automatically find and merge these.

Conclusion

We mainly talk about how to recover deleted contacts iPhone in this guide. We show you four effective ways to retrieve deleted contacts from iPhone. Moreover, we introduce you with a powerful iPhone Contact Recovery to help you find and recover the deleted iPhone contacts. You can pick your preferred method to find back your contacts.

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